NYSAA Executive Board Candidates

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Rob is the Assessor for the Town of Clay, an Architect and the President of the Bear Springs Corporation, a firm specializing in Adirondack Style Design and Commercial Project Planning. He is the past President of the Onondaga County Assessors Association and past President of the Board of Trustees of the Northern Onondaga County Public Library system.   He is a member of the Town of Cicero Zoning Board, a Trustee for the Erie Canal Museum, is a certified “Disaster Relief Building Evaluator” for the State of California, has graduate certificates in Commercial Real Estate Finance and Commercial Real Estate Development from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a professional certificate in Municipal Finance from the University of Chicago.

He spends his down time working on his properties, writing grants for non-profits (and writing in general), climbing mountains, playing in the snow (If or when it snows), and trying to live a peaceful life. 

As a board member, his main goal is to raise the level of respect given to those in the assessment profession. Remember, elected officials make one decision a year that influences a taxpayers pocketbook (the budget), while every decision an assessor makes either “giveth” or “taketh” away.

After a few years working for various mass appraisal companies in the late 80’s and early 90’s I followed the lead of some friends and worked towards becoming a certified candidate for assessor. Most days I look back on that decision and think it was a great idea. Some days it feels like I lost a bet. Such is life. Either way the work paid off and I began looking for the opportunity to become the sole appointed assessor.

I accepted my first appointment on July 1, 1999, for the Town of Williamstown in Oswego County. I have been the assessor there every day since. I am currently the sole assessor for seven municipalities in Oswego and Wayne counties. 

I became a member of the IAO in 2004. I have a professional assessor designation. I am currently a certified general appraiser in New York State. I have served as Vice President and President of the Oswego County Assessor Association. I am fortunate to say this is my second time serving on the executive board of the NYSAA. I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve our membership as First Vice President.

My name is Lisa R. Goree, and I am the Sole Assessor for the Town of Southampton. I would like to thank everyone that voted for me in the last election. It’s been an honor to work with such a great group of dedicated individuals. I currently serve on the Employee Committee as well as Chairperson for the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. 

I’ve worked in the Town of Southampton Assessor’s Office for over 22 years, having first started as an Assessment Clerk. Since then, I’ve held several titles, including Deputy Assessor for 4 years and later appointed Sole Assessor in 2013. With a staff of only 10, including myself, I am charged with overseeing the valuation of over 50,000 parcels that include over 37,000 residential properties, and an average of 1,500 annual sales. Approximately 7% of our single-family residences are considered “Exceptional Homes,” however, they make up 44% of our residential assessed value. 

Together, with my husband Kristin of 37 years we have raised 3 beautiful daughters who have blessed us with 6 wonderful grandchildren. We live on the Shinnecock Reservation, the oldest self-governing Native American tribe in NY State. We welcomed the first settlers to our shores in 1640 to what is now known as Southampton Village. I am the first Native American to hold a department head position in the Town and like my ancestors, in some way, I consider myself “a keeper of the land.”

During my time with the Town, I was involved with the 2004 town-wide reassessment where I oversaw the data collection and data conversion process from Boeckh to Marshall & Swift. In 2011 we implemented the online grievance submission process by providing an electronic fillable PDF application on our website which is then emailed directly to our MS Outlook grievance inbox. Applications are assigned a parcel ID associated with their tax map number and subsequently uploaded to their individual files located in our database. This process allows the Town to email 95% of the BAR notices, which has saved the Town thousands of dollars annually in time, staff and printing. 

If re-elected, I look forward to participating in the continued work of the NYSAA Executive Board. 

Born and and raised in the Hudson Valley, Jeremy Baracca began his appraisal career in Newburgh N.Y. in 2002 where his office overlooked the winding Hudson River. He was employed by the appraisal firm Valuation Consultants Inc., as a Certified Residential Real Property Appraiser for 18 years. His appraisal assignments included properties throughout Orange, Ulster, Sullivan and Dutchess Counties.
 

In 2015, Jeremy was appointed as the Assistant Assessor in the City of Newburgh. During his 6 year tenure in Newburgh, he collaborated with Assessor Joanne Majewski to successfully complete two city-wide revaluations, one in 2017 and one in 2020.
      
Getting weary of the commute over the Shawangunk Ridge every day, in 2021 he accepted the Assessor position for three municipalities closer to home. He currently serves as the Sole Assessor in the towns of Rochester, Marbletown and Rosendale in Ulster County. He is now preparing for a full revaluation in the Town of Rochester where he currently resides.

In his spare time Jeremy enjoys classic cars and traveling to various car shows. He has proudly owned a 1970 Dodge Challenger since he was 18 years old that often accompanies him. He also has a great passion for being immersed in nature, he enjoys hunting (avid bow hunter), hiking, biking and kayaking in his spare time. He can often be found traversing the trails, lakes, and hills of the Shawangunk Ridge and the Catskill Mountains. 

Ray has been the City of Long Beach Assessor for the past seven years. Long Beach is part of a barrier island located off the south shore of Long Island, which is where Ray grew up and currently resides. It was a dream of his to one day have a three-minute commute to the office and to help the City he calls home as it was still recovering from Super Storm Sandy. As the Assessor, Ray serves as Chairman of the Board of Assessors and the Board of Assessment Review for the City. He was appointed City Treasurer last January and also serves as the Tax Collector. 

Prior to his current position, Ray worked for the Nassau County Department of Assessment for seventeen years. During his time with the County he served in numerous roles and positions, such as the residential field supervisor. He has worked on nine reassessments while with the County, including its first revaluation since 1938. 

Ray is also a New York State Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser and an approved Supervisory Appraiser. He is currently in the process of finishing a BA/MPA program at Long Island University. Ray earned the prestigious IAO designation from the Institute of Assessing Officers in 2012. Last year he was awarded the Residential Evaluation Specialist (RES) from the IAAO is and is currently a candidate for the Assessment Administration Specialist (AAS) designation.

As a board member, Ray would like to expand on the educational opportunities available to members and work to expand the membership base. He feels that the Association is only as strong as it members. Ray looks forward to serving the membership and considers the opportunity to do so a great honor. 

Molly S. MacElroy was raised in East Glenville, NY and is currently the Assessor for the City of Schenectady. Molly attended Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake Schools, participating in sports, music and student government. She then went on to the University of Rochester, earning a degree in Health and Society and a business certificate in the Public Sector. She also participated in a program called Take 5 Scholars, where she was able to stay and study a 5th year, tuition-free. Her self-designed program called “The Ancient World,” included classes focused on the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, Greek and Egyptian art, and philosophy. She also spent the year as an intern at the University of Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery, restoring their Ancient Greek and Egyptian Slide Collections. 

Molly then attended The University of Vermont and received her Master of Education degree in Higher Education and Student Personnel Development. After graduation from UVM, Molly worked in higher education at Vassar College in the Residential Life Department working with college students on leadership and identity development. She spent 4 years there and then moved back up to the Capital District, where she took a job in Residential Life at Union College. She spent 8 years there as both Assistant Director and Director of Residential Life. During that time, Molly enrolled in the Union Graduate College, which subsequently became Clarkson University where she pursued a Master of Business Administration degree. Knowing that she had about a year left of her program, Molly left Union College and took on a full-time internship at the Goldman Sachs Ayco Company as a Financial Analyst Intern. During her last class, the “Capstone,” she and three fellow students wrote a business plan for Mayor Gary McCarthy and the City of Schenectady HOMES (Home Ownership Made Easy in Schenectady) Program. This program helps to sell not only homes in the City of Schenectady, but also sell the positive attributes of the city. 

Molly finished her MBA and expressed to the mayor that she would like to continue working on the HOMES program, but he had other ideas for her. He brought her into city hall to talk about becoming the Assessor for the city. She had very little knowledge of the position but had interest in helping to support Schenectady, so she took the position. 

For the last 10 years, Molly has been the Assessor for the City of Schenectady completing the state certification and passing the IAO exam. Throughout her training and experience, Molly was able to also become an Appraiser Assistant through the NY Department of State and is currently working on her Real Estate License. She has been on the Membership, Mentoring, and Public Relations Committees through NYSAA and has been a member of the IAO Exam and Conference Planning Committees. She is also a member of the Board of the Albany-Schenectady Assessors Association.

In her spare time, Molly and her husband are avid scuba divers and underwater photographers traveling all over the world to find the most photogenic ocean creatures. She also plays ice hockey for the Albany Angels, an adult women’s travel hockey team. Molly loves being an assessor because she gets to interact with the public and solve problems. She appreciates being transparent with property owners and being honest about the purpose of the assessment office. She believes that while most people do not like being told “No,” that if you do it with honesty, integrity and transparency, most messages are received with respect. She appreciates being involved in NYSAA at the level she currently is at, but would love the opportunity to be move involved with supporting the role of assessors in New York State. 

Heather L. Weinhold was raised in Guilderland, NY and is currently the Guilderland Town Assessor. She was born into the assessment community as her mother worked in the Town of Guilderland's Assessors Department for 37 years maintaining the role of Assessor for 16 of those years. Throughout Heather's younger years she was known as the Town Hall mascot.

Heather attended Mohonasen High School participating in the travel Marching Band through 12th grade, graduating in 2003. Participating in the Marching band gave way to wonderful friends, taught time management with having to juggle studies along with two weekly practices and traveling for competitions on the weekends. After high school Heather's strong work ethic

enabled her to complete her 4-year degree in just 3 years, at SUNY Oneonta earning a Bachelor of Science in English. During college breaks Heather would return home and work part time for her mother in the Assessor's office, doing clerical work and assisting with a reassessment in 2005.

Heather's career started full time in the spring of 2013 when the opportunity arose for the position of Assessment Clerk. From that moment on, the end goal was to become the next Town Assessor to continue on the legacy that runs in her blood. One Day seminars, conferences, along with courses given by New York State Tax and Finance soon began to get her closer to that goal. In July of 2020 Heather was appointed to Sole Assessor for the Town of Guilderland. Since taking office, Heather has made sure to maintain a positive and welcoming work environment for all staff and residents alike.

NYSAA means more than just a professional association, it stands for support, knowledge, growth, integrity. It stands for a family of workers who go above and beyond to make sure that we are giving the best information and assistance to our municipalities and residents. It stands for a group of peers who will help you no matter what time of the day to answer your question so that you may assist your resident to the best of your ability. It is an Association that every member should be proud to be a member of.

During my first term as an Executive Board member, I have had the privilege of sitting on many different committees that our association has to offer. I have been or currently are still a member of the Membership/Mentoring committee, Memorial committee, Annual Conference committee, Legislative committee, and most recently RPTAC. Being a part of these committees and aiding in the growth of our association is a big part of why I became a board member. I have been able to assist in gaining new members for our organization, keep an accurate mentoring list for those who may reach out for guidance, help to create a future succession plan and how to get new individuals into this field. Most recently I have begun a relationship with the Department of Taxation and Finance on the RPTAC committee to help create a positive relationship between NYSAA and Tax and Finance along with making sure that items brought up by fellow assessors are heard.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I am looking forward to serving on our Executive Board for another term.